Use a card reader or connect from the camera?

What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
connecting it to your computer.
Nikon D70
Dell Laptop
256mb compact flash card

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On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 20:31:34 -0400, in rec.photo.digital "SlipKid"
<> wrote:
>What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
>cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
>files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
>connecting it to your computer.
>Nikon D70
>Dell Laptop
>256mb compact flash card

Leave a card reader connected all the time and save the camera battery and
needlessly plugging/unplugging it in my experience. 10,000+ images with my
990 and 3,300+ with my 5700.
________________________________________________________
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 ()
See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 athttp://EdwardGRuf.com

SlipKid wrote:
> What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
> files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> connecting it to your computer.
> Nikon D70
> Dell Laptop
> 256mb compact flash card
>
> Thanks All
>
>

In article <JvN%c.38357$xu6.17521@okepread02>, SlipKid <>
wrote:
> What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
> files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> connecting it to your computer.

"SlipKid" <> wrote in message
news:JvN%c.38357$xu6.17521@okepread02...
> What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get
> the
> files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> connecting it to your computer.
> Nikon D70
> Dell Laptop
> 256mb compact flash card
>
> Thanks All
>
>

Card reader:
1. It's much faster, especially since most cameras don't have USB 2.0
connection
2. More convenient if you have more than 1 card to download
3. Won't use the camera batteries to do the transfer

I'm new to this (haven't bought a camera yet). I've got a Dell 8200 PC w/
USB1.1
What kinld of card reader should I buy? What's the speed difference between
USB2 and FireWire?

Mike

"Ed Ruf" <> wrote in message
news:...
> On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 20:31:34 -0400, in rec.photo.digital "SlipKid"
> <> wrote:
>
>>What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
>>cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get
>>the
>>files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
>>connecting it to your computer.
>>Nikon D70
>>Dell Laptop
>>256mb compact flash card
>
> Leave a card reader connected all the time and save the camera battery and
> needlessly plugging/unplugging it in my experience. 10,000+ images with my
> 990 and 3,300+ with my 5700.
> ________________________________________________________
> Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 ()
> See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 at
> http://EdwardGRuf.com

"SlipKid" <> writes:
> What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
> files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> connecting it to your computer.

If I'm taking a bunch of pictures, I likely will use my portable storage device
(currently CompactDrive with a 6 gig disk in it), and download pictures in the
field as I fill up memory cards. However, unless I get really snap happy, I
generally have enough cards to see me through the day. Then I connect the
drive, and download all of the pictures at once via USB 2.0.

Other times, particularly if I only have one memory card full, I will use one
of the card readers I have (at least one by every computer, and another one in
the camera bag).

A few times I will connect one of my cameras directly to the computer and
download that way. However, I don't do it with the main camera, because it is
very much slower than a card reader. Also, this particular camera (Olympus
C-2100UZ) had a problem that a lot of people noticed that if the batteries ran
out during the transfer, it could fry the backplane of the camera, rendering it
useless. However, I believe the problem was fixed in newer models, so I do the
transfer with my pocket camera (Olympus D-40Z).

One concern I have with connecting the main camera to the computer is finding
space on my desktop to hold it, since my desktop is usually piled high with
stuff. If you have more than one memory card, it is a moot point, since you've
already removed the card from the camera.

"Mike" <> writes:
> I'm new to this (haven't bought a camera yet). I've got a Dell 8200 PC w/
> USB1.1
> What kinld of card reader should I buy? What's the speed difference between
> USB2 and FireWire?

Well if you only have USB 1.1 on your system, then any USB card reader should
do for you. If you have USB 2.0 or Firewire, the speed of your flash memory
will determine how fast your transfer is. I've seen studies that suggest
Firewire is faster than USB 2.0 under Windows, even though theoretically it
should be the other way around. Unless you are transfering gigabytes of
pictures, it probably won't matter too much whether you go with USB 1.1 or
2.0.

SlipKid wrote:
> What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
> files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> connecting it to your computer.
> Nikon D70
> Dell Laptop
> 256mb compact flash card
>
> Thanks All
>
>
I use whatever method is appropriate to the task. If I have just a few
pictures to transfer, I use the Kodak 'dock'. This is a simple matter
of a singly button press to do the transfer. However, the interface to
which the dock is connected is only USB 1.1, and is a bit slow. If I
have a full card, I take it to my wife's computer and put it into the
internal flash card reader and get the maximum transfer rate the card
will support.
The only way in which the camera will be damaged by connecting it to the
computer for such transfers is if you accidently pull the camera off the
desk by snagging the cord (or a pet, or child does). That was why I
bought a card reader in the first place.

Mike wrote:
> I'm new to this (haven't bought a camera yet). I've got a Dell 8200 PC w/
> USB1.1
> What kinld of card reader should I buy? What's the speed difference between
> USB2 and FireWire?
>
> Mike
>
> "Ed Ruf" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>
>>On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 20:31:34 -0400, in rec.photo.digital "SlipKid"
>><> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
>>>cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get
>>>the
>>>files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
>>>connecting it to your computer.
>>>Nikon D70
>>>Dell Laptop
>>>256mb compact flash card
>>
>>Leave a card reader connected all the time and save the camera battery and
>>needlessly plugging/unplugging it in my experience. 10,000+ images with my
>>990 and 3,300+ with my 5700.
>>________________________________________________________
>>Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 ()
>>See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 at
>>http://EdwardGRuf.com
>
>
>
USB 2.0 and Firewire are both faster than the fastest flash cards
available now. If you anticipate doing any video work in the near
future, buying a Firewire card might be a good investment, otherwise, a
USB 2.0 board will cost you under $20 and will transfer several times
faster (depends on the max speed of the card) than USB 1.1.

"Randall Ainsworth" <> wrote in message
news:080920041840092594%...
> In article <JvN%c.38357$xu6.17521@okepread02>, SlipKid <>
> wrote:
>
> > What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> > cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get
the
> > files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> > connecting it to your computer.
>
> Firewire, baby...Firewire

Someone else can answer that better than I can. But I'd
suggest thinking about what computers you might want to connect to.
Both yours and those of friends. They would likely all have USB right
now, and may soon all have firewire.

If you're just starting, you may also have not enough volume
of files to transfer, sso the speed may be a minor issue.

Finally, if expense isn't a big issue, get (or borrow) both
and make your own decision as you use them. A simple USB CF card
reader goes for about $15. For a little more, you can get one which
will accept all common card types. That leaves the possibility of
easier file sharing if you can read the cards of friends with
different camera/card types.

Otherwise, I'm not up on the various firewire readers.

>
>Mike
>
>"Ed Ruf" <> wrote in message
>news:...
>> On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 20:31:34 -0400, in rec.photo.digital "SlipKid"
>> <> wrote:
>>
>>>What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
>>>cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get
>>>the
>>>files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
>>>connecting it to your computer.
>>>Nikon D70
>>>Dell Laptop
>>>256mb compact flash card
>>
>> Leave a card reader connected all the time and save the camera battery and
>> needlessly plugging/unplugging it in my experience. 10,000+ images with my
>> 990 and 3,300+ with my 5700.
>> ________________________________________________________
>> Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 ()
>> See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 at
>> http://EdwardGRuf.com
>

In article <JvN%c.38357$xu6.17521@okepread02>, SlipKid <> wrote:
>What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
>cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
>files?

SlipKid wrote:
> What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
> files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> connecting it to your computer.
> Nikon D70
> Dell Laptop
> 256mb compact flash card

I find a card reader is almost twice as fast as transferring direct from
my EOS Digital Rebel. This is with a 512MB "High-Speed" Lexar CF card
and plugging both devices into my PC's USB 1.1 ports. YMMV depending on
the camera and whether you have USB 2.0.

"SlipKid" <> wrote in message news:JvN%c.38357$xu6.17521@okepread02...
What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get the
files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
connecting it to your computer.
Nikon D70
Dell Laptop
256mb compact flash card

Thanks All
-----------
-----------
-----------
Normally I recommend not to transfer via camera but if you can't
take your eyes off that new toy you may want to do it anyway for
awhile.

Why do you condemn USB?
USB 2.0 id much faster than any flash card, and works perfectly for this
application and many others as well.
The same applies to firewire of course, either one is just fine for this.

I always use a USB card reader, I have a bunch of cards and it's easier to
just pop them in there one at a time rather than swapping them back into the
camera. No, you won't damage the camera connecting it ( unless your careless
and break something like a pin or drop it) but it's just easier to get an
inexpensive card reader and use that instead.

"SlipKid" <> wrote in message
news:JvN%c.38357$xu6.17521@okepread02...
> What do you use get your pictures to your computer? Do you connect a USB
> cord to your camera or remove the card and use a USB card reader to get
> the
> files? Is there any advantage or either, can the camera be damaged from
> connecting it to your computer.
> Nikon D70
> Dell Laptop
> 256mb compact flash card
>
> Thanks All
>
>

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